All Rise...

The Charge

"Freeze, Miami Vice!"

Opening Statement

In its penultimate season, Miami
Vice was falling behind in the ratings, and took on some questionable
storylines in an attempt to recapture former glory. Did this creativity make the
season an under-appreciated masterpiece or simply bad television?

Facts of the Case

As in previous seasons, Miami Vice: Season Four is comprised mostly of
self-contained episodes with little carryover continuity, a smattering of guest
stars who were less famous then than they are now, and opportunities for each
member of the main cast to shine. Major events include Sonny Crockett (Don
Johnson, Guilty as Sin) meeting, disliking, falling in love with, and
marrying pop sensation Caitlin Davies (all in a single episode), played with
increasing skill by real-life singer Sheena Easton; Trudy (I swear to God) being
abducted by an alien who not only looks like James Brown, but who also sings
"I Got You (I Feel Good)"; Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas, Fate)
and Castillo (Edward James Olmos, Stand and Deliver) learning about the
plight of North American Indians while undercover; and Gina (Saundra Santiago,
The Sopranos) flirting with disaster when she attracts the attentions of
a vicious gangster.

The two leads have changed their looks a bit, Johnson sporting a rather
large and stylized mullet while Tubbs has grown a beard, perhaps to hide the
shame of appearing in some of this season's episodes. But their no-nonsense
attitudes, and proficiencies with both firearms and barrel rolls, remain.

Miami Vice: Season Four has 22 episodes spread across five
single-sided discs:

• Contempt of Court • Amen…Send Money • Death and the Lady • The Big Thaw
• Child's Play • God's Work
• Missing Hours • Like a Hurricane
• Rising Sun of Death • Love at First Sight
• A Rock and A Hard Place • The Cows of October • Vote of Confidence • Baseballs of Death
• Indian Wars • Honor Among Thieves?
• Hell Hath No Fury… • Badge of Dishonor
• Blood and Roses • A Bullet for Crockett
• Deliver Us From Evil • Mirror Image

The Evidence

Miami Vice: Season Four starts out strong enough, as Crockett and
Tubbs navigate the court system while trying to ensure a brutal mobster, played
by Stanley Tucci (Big Night), gets the prison term he deserves. The
episode has no big chase scene or shootout; instead, we see a different side of
law enforcement than has usually been depicted in the series, a refreshing
change of pace that seems to signal a more serious Vice to follow over the next year. The next couple
of episodes continue this trend of quality storytelling, although Brian Dennehy
(Fail Safe) is a bit over the top in "Amen…Send
Money."

Unfortunately, in the fourth episode and beyond, Miami Vice not only
jumps the shark, but does back flips and sings show tunes at the same time.
"The Big Thaw" finds the Vice Squad protecting the cryogenically
frozen body of a reggae singer from a surprisingly diverse assortment of
villains who want it for one reason or another. There are plenty of failed
attempts at comedy, and the whole program is rather embarrassing for the viewer,
so I can't imagine what it must've been like for the actors. It's a low point in
the series, but certainly not the lowest Miami Vice will stoop this season.

That dubious honor goes to "Missing Hours," the aforementioned
episode finding Trudy dealing with alien abduction over a surreal, bizarre 45
minutes; it's hard to know whether to laugh at the ridiculousness of the
proceedings or cry over how far the once-great series has fallen. A close
runner-up in the Miami Vice race to the bottom is "The Cows of
October," wherein the entire plot revolves around a precious canister of
bull semen from a miniature cow—the plan is to sell these mini-bovines to
the Third World since they eat less food. Seriously. Also worth mentioning is
"Rising Sun of Death," which, although it's not all bad and has the
awesomest title ever, also features the slowest, most poorly choreographed
swordfight ever put to film.

It's a shame that the quality ended up being so uneven, as crime writer
extraordinaire Dick Wolf (creator of Law & Order) wrote the stories
for many of the episodes, a number of which are very well done. "Child's
Play," is a stand out, as Crockett deals with accidentally shooting a child
in the midst of a takedown, giving Don Johnson a chance to show some real
emotional range. And the Caitlin Davies episodes work surprisingly well, with
"Love At First Sight" showing how hard it is on Crockett's new wife to
be married to an undercover cop, followed by "A Rock and A Hard
Place," wherein Crockett travels with his rock-star bride and learns that
he'll have to make some compromises too. They're a far cry from some of the
grittier episodes of seasons past, when realism and style were king, but the
entertainment factor is high, and the characters at least remain consistent. Of
course, from the moment Crockett proposes to Caitlin, we know what will
eventually happen to her, but kudos to the creators for waiting until episode 21
to kill her off, and for tying her death to one of the better episodes of Season
Three. Caitlin's demise profoundly affects Crockett's state of mind, and leads
nicely into the excellent season finale, easily the season's best show: Crockett
heads back to undercover work too soon, and when he's almost killed in an
explosion, he loses his memory and believes he is the ruthless drug
dealer Sonny Burnett, acting accordingly. The rest of the Vice Squad thinks
their man is dead, and Tubbs is out to avenge his partner, while Sonny's
villainous business associates start to suspect his crime-fighting alter ego.
It's a great hour of television, slick and filled with unexpected twists,
leading to a cliffhanger ending that almost makes you forget how hit-and-miss
the season was as a whole.

There are a lot fewer musical interludes in Miami Vice: Season Four
than in seasons past, which is especially unfortunate since regular composer Jan
Hammer also did less and less of the evocative score himself. We do get some
James Brown, Don Henley, Peter Gabriel, U2, Aerosmith, and another great usage
of Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight," a song synonymous with Miami
Vice since its pilot episode, but overall the music is pretty generic.

Picture and sound quality are comparable to previous seasons, with the video
perhaps a bit cleaner than before: there are fewer instances of grain,
especially in dark scenes, and the colors pop appropriately. The sound comes to
life with music, taking advantage of its Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mix and
exhibiting a surprising amount of low-end response, but dialogue and sound
effects betray their stereo roots, with limited dynamic range.

Consistent with four of the five seasons on DVD, no special features are
included.

Closing Statement

An uneven season, Miami Vice: Season Four features one of the series'
best episodes ("Mirror Image") and several of the worst ("The Big
Thaw," "Missing Hours," "The Cows of October"). Casual
fans will be better served by picking up earlier seasons, but hardcore Miami Vice addicts will want this one
for a smattering of shows and its gripping finale. But a few good episodes do
not a worthwhile season make, and all told I can't recommend it.

The Verdict

Guilty of betraying three seasons of excellent storytelling, despite a
last-ditch effort at redemption, the accused is sentenced to watch "Missing
Hours" on a continuous loop until ready to admit to crimes against
humanity.